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How to Chicago: Lock it Up

16. Survive. City living 101. Lock your doors!Your home, your car, your garage, your crawl space, your gate. Namely your garage. 20 years in the city and it’s the only spot they’ve been successful in burgling me. A few times. And it wasn’t that I left said garage unlocked regularly. It was only the few times I forgot to turn the bolt. Which means the miscreants either got very lucky, or they were casing my place. Coming through and checking the door regularly. I think it was the latter. Most often they’re looking for bikes. Never leave them out overnight and rarely during the day either. They can be lifted in a matter of seconds.

Also, do not leave electrical devices in view of windows when leaving home. Laptops, iPads, iPhones, phone pods, pad books, pad laps, poop tops, ubertubes etc. Again, there’s a fair chance that your place is being cased by local criminals. They know that you’re in and out of the house several times a day. They will absolutely bust into your crib to grab a MacBook in plain sight. It only takes several seconds and it’s just too tempting for idiots. Do a quick walk through every time you leave your home and move devices out of sight. It makes a difference.

2 thoughts on “How to Chicago: Lock it Up”

Other lessons we learned the hard way:
1) Not only lock your garage but lock up your lawn mower, bikes and other big-ticket-items in the garage. This offers double-protection and if you have a finicky electronic garage door, it protects you in case it opens back up unknowingly.
2) Lock your upstairs windows if there is a possibility of entry via a back porch roof, etc.
3) Packages left on the front porch are also an easy target.